However, to narrow the scope to only danmaku shmups, I'm feeling a bit dissatisfied with the direction that it's currently headed. The main issues are the rapid inflation of difficulty, games that have only a lot of bullets, effects that are fancy and beautiful, but are not easy on the eyes; and games with new systems that don't require dodging bullets. That is my opinion.
Many of them are usually fun to play as games, but even though that might be fine as it is, in some instances it might give the impression that "Dodging bullets is not fun; of course there are going to be a lot of bullets in an shmup." If they don't try to find dodging bullets fun, why don't they try to reconsider why they would play a shmup if the enemies' shots were gone?

In that sense, Koumakyou brings things back to the starting point, by curbing the game systems that change the difficuly in obscure ways while at the same time, pursuing the natural fun of dodging bullets.

If the danmaku in the 21st century were to continue to maintain the same meaning of the danmaku that was present during the dawn of danmaku, you should end up with a game like this. That was my intention in making this game.
That's the reason why I'm calling this a Late 20th century style, 21st century shmup. One thing that I would like to clarify that I did not feel some nostalgia to the games of the late 90's and say:
"Yup, shmups back in those days were the best." And decide to make a new game. (^^; If I were to say something like that, I wouldn't be making a new game, I'd be buying them.

"Yup, not just with shmups, but with everything, I want to find the joy in trying new things."

難易度は抑えてあるけど、弾の数はいっそう多くなっています(汗）

「多けりゃいいってもんじゃないだろー」ってツッコミながらプレイして

貰えれば幸いです(w

The difficulty is downscaled a bit, but there's a greater number of bullets than usual. (sweat)
"It's not simply OK to have a ton of them!" would be a phrase that I would like to hear from those who play it. (lol)

ＳＴＧは斬新なシステムがなきゃーとか、超派手な画面がなきゃーとか、

爽快感がーとか、萌えキャラがーとか、ボイスがーとか（そんな人居るの
か(^^;？）思っている方は、市販のゲームか他の方のＳＴＧの方が大変よ

く出来ているので、このゲームに合わないかと思います（ぉぃ）

To those who think STGs need to have a unique system, fancy graphics, a sense of exhilaration, moe characters, or voices (Are there even those kinds of people(^^;?), there are commercial or other shmups that are better-made and this game would probably
not be suited for you. (Hey)

もちろん、遊んでいただける方は、なんにも理屈なんか気にしないで

楽しんでくださいね(^^;

こういうこと考える必要があるのは創る（特に売る製品）側だけです。

Obviously, to those who decided to play, there's no need for reasons to enjoy the game. (^^;
These things should only be considered to those who make (and especially to those who sell) the actual games.

なお、キャラがちまちましている、とか背景が単調とか、雑魚の種類が

乏しいとか、は何のこだわりもあるわけではなく、ただ単に人手が足りな
いだけです。申し訳ございません（汗）次回以降、回を重ねることに少し

ずつ改善されて欲しいものです（他人事の様に(^^;）

Still, to those who feel like the characters are too small, the backgrounds are too monotonous, or a lack of variation in the small fry, this is not due to any particular insistence, but due to a simple lack of manpower. Please forgive me (sweat). Starting next time, I hope I am able to improve little by little as I become accustomed to it. (As if it's anyone else's business (^^;)

By the way, how do you like the music?
I intended to make it about three times as bright as usual, and since I haven't seen it in game music recently, I added some jazz fusion to it. I wanted to make it unusual and give it qualities of "This is what I think about when I think of game music!" yet I wanted to avoid the atmosphere that is so prevalent in game music a little bit.

って、実はこんな曲しか創れないとも言う（もう作曲歴も長いのに...）

というか、一言で言ってしまえば曲調が古いのでは？

ノスタルジックと古いと言うのは違うんだろうなぁ(^^;

...But it's more like I didn't make anything BUT those kinds of songs. (Even with as long as I've been composing...)

If I were to sum up the melodies in a single word, I guess I'd say "old"?

I don't think "nostalgic" quite has the same meaning, anyway. (^^;

今回は、私的にラスボス、エキストラボスのテーマが対象的な曲に仕
上がって、両方気に入っています。

This time, I personally think that the last boss and extra boss theme's were created to be representative of the game, and I quite like them both.

This has nothing to do with the game, but I also released a music CD at the same time as this game.

It's filled like songs like the ones in this game, so if you even like this game's music a little bit, please give the music CD a listen. However, it's almost entirely high-tempo songs, so you might find yourself considering that the best way to throw away your life is to hang yourself.

I consider it a genre-free CD, so it isn't suited for people who get hung up on categorizing all music into genres. Certainly.

それにしても、弦楽器弾けるようになろうかなぁ
二胡とか（いきなりかい）

In any case, it makes me want to play a stringed instrument. Like an erhu. (That came out of nowhere!)

―― そ・れ・で・も いきますか？ Yes ->No<-

—— Ev-en-so, are you going? Yes ->No<-

大往生以来、ＳＴＧが出ていませんね。大往生は２周目いったところで、

すでにあきらめてしまいました(^^;（Ａ－麗娘 使用）
プロギアですら２－５でつまって１コインクリア出来なかったので、大往

生２周は無理と踏みました（体力の限界）

There haven't been any shmups released since Dodonpachi Daiohjou, yeah? I've gotten to the second loop, but I've already given up on that. (^^; (I use A-type Leinyan.)
I can't even 1cc Progear after 2-5 tries, so beating Daiohjou's second loop is going to be impossible by my estimate (Due to physical limitations).

Actually, when I released Mystic Square I thought "Danmaku shmups have already just about reached their peak." I suppose I was somewhat mistaken. Among the countless number of games, there are two large divisions. One group is games made to be widely accepted, and the other is made for a small fraction to greatly enjoy. For business (so they can put food on the table), the former is absolutely necessary. Of course, danmaku shmups fall into the latter. Enthusiasts choose them for the sake of the genre alone.

I think that almost everyone considers shmups to be an outdated genre based on the fact that they are rarely released anymore, and it's likely that not too many more shmups will be. If you or the people around you say that they're not fun in magazines or on the internet (or in your own thoughts), then it may very well be that many more people who also think shmups are outdated.

The fact is that they are old-fashioned. However, I think that its old-fashioned quality is part of its artistic essence. While kabuki was once pop culture, it is now considered fine arts in the present world. During the brief wine boom, some people may have become true wine connoisseurs. And like how the techniques used in Blazing Star showed up later in other horizontal shmups...
When people who just think that shmups are outdated no longer exist among those who play games, when there are only true danmaku connoisseurs, I think that might be the best era for those who are truly seeking to make genuine danmaku.

ＳＴＧは、もっとも早くから存在したゲームの一つです。
そのため、ちょっとばかり業が深いのかもしれません（笑）

Shmups only wanted to be a single game since its inception.
For that reason, it might just be a little bad karma. (lol)

Changing the subject, this was the first time I've made a Windows program of such a large scale.
I've hardly done any programming in Windows, so the code might be rather clumsy. m(_ _)m However, in truth, working in an environment with things like API and DirectX is so much of a blessing. I barely had to touch anything low-level (like with the hardware), and I made a program that runs on the surface.

今回は一からのライブラリ、及びツール構築があったため、色々時間が

足りなかったのですが、とりあえずこれで大分開発環境が整ったので、次
回作からもっとクオリティＵＰ（特に演出面）を図っていけるかな、と思

っています。

Since this time I had to construct libraries and tools from scratch, I ran out of time for making a lot of things, but for now just about every part of the development environment is in order. That means that for the next game I plan on improving the quality (especially on the production side).

今回、アーカイブに関しては Amusement Makers のぽんち氏に頂きまし

た。そのおかげで、多くの時間をゲーム本質部分への作りこみに割けた事

を感謝します。

I received an archive from Mr. Punch from Amusement Makers. Thanks to him, I was able to save a lot of time into putting together the essential parts of the game, so I am grateful for that.

I think that from now on I have to make the compressed WAV files loop.
In dealing with making the WAV and the MIDI files loop indefinitely, I found that the MIDI playback routine in particular had a lot of bugs. Sorry for the inconvenience. m(_ _)m

―― 次回は

—— As for the next time

どうしましょうかね。実は東方Ｐｒｏｊｅｃｔは向こう２作、仕様が

出来ています。でも、個人的にはまったくの新作も作って見たいところ。
新シリーズも構想だけ出来ています（東方と何にも変わらないけど（汗））

まぁ、とりあえずは、もう少し東方Ｐｒｏｊｅｃｔ作ってみましょうか(^^;

What should I do? Actually, I do have the resources I need to make the second Touhou Project game in the future. However, I would personally like to see if I could make a completely different game.
I have made a plan for a new series (although it's no different from Touhou (sweats) ). Well, for now I'll see if I can't make more Touhou Project games for a little while longer. (^^;

多分ＳＴＧであることには違いないかと思います。でも、夏->冬は短い

からきついなぁ、いやマジで。

というより、仕事が忙しくて創ってられないね（汗）

I think I'm certain it will probably be a shmup, but there is such a short amount of time between the summer and winter Comikets, so it'll be tough. No, I'm serious.
And to make things worse, I won't be able to continue making it due to being busy at work. (sweat)

なにはともあれ、宜しかったらこれからもよろしくお願いしますm(__)m

In any case, please continue your support if you like my games.
m(_ _)m